Centre of attention: Actor Farooq Sheikh shares a moment with the children during School Chalen Hum programme at the Government Middle School, Ranchi. Picture by Ashok Karan

Ranchi, April 24: Although there has been a decrease in the number of ?good? movies as well as art films coming out of Bollywood in the present times, the trend is slowly going to change, thanks to the advent of multiplex market, believes filmstar Farooq Sheikh.

Farooq argues, more and more small filmmakers are now coming up with ideas and translating them into films. Earlier they did not get the audience, as most of the cinema theatres did not screen these films due to low turnout.

?But with the opening up of multiplexes with 400-500 seats, these ?good? art movies are being viewed alongside the commercial ones,? said Farooq, who was in the state capital to participate in School Chalen Hum, a campaign for dropouts sponsored by the state government.

Talking to The Telegraph, Farooq pointed out that, with multiple halls in a particular multiplex screening an art movie in parallel with a commercial blockbuster, people view both, and thus, provide the much-needed encouragement to the small filmmaker to undertake such endeavours repeatedly.

Citing the examples of the recently released Being Cyrus and My Brother Nikhil, the actor-turned-director maintained that they were doing extremely well and were providing the basic minimum ingredient of a big-banner project.

Commenting on his visit to Jharkhand and the local film industry, Farooq said: ?This is my first visit to Jharkhand. Being a new state, its biggest advantage is that it has been formed when India is projecting itself as a global economy. There is a lot of positive energy around and it is up to the young generation to coordinate and channelise this energy to development. They, however, should keep the politicians at bay, from hijacking the state of its benefits.?

His obvious reference was the master blaster, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. ?Till 15 years ago nobody knew who Mahendra Singh Dhoni was. Today the lad has opened a gateway of opportunities for the youth here,? he said. He felt in the next few years the youth would be in charge of the country and it is they who would be the ones who would run it.

Farooq also does not see any difference between an art film and its commercial counterpart and blames it on media for the differentiation. ?There is an art in every cinema, even the commercial ones. There is the art of choreography, set design and a host of others in even a Karan Johar or a Subhash Ghai film. At the same time, there is also a commercial value in a Satyajit Ray. After all, even a Ray film cannot be seen without money. Therefore, there should be no such differentiation.?

Farooq first started his career with theatre and joined IPTA during his stay in Mumbai, along with some of his close friends.

During his theatre days, he was spotted by M.S. Satyu, who offered him his first role in Garam Hawa, a low-budget movie. Farooq was cast by Satyajit Ray in his film Shatranj Ke Khilari after which he did Gaman directed by Muzaffar Ali. Then there was no looking back.

But Farooq maintains his entry into films was purely by chance as he was doing his law and went on to even complete it. ?I did not practice law, though,? he said.